Mount Pyramid – Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering

Mount Pyramid Climbing Notes

Leigh Sheppard from CANADA writes:

I climbed Mt Pyramid in the summer of 1967 as my Canadian Centennial project. I was 18 years old at the time, working for the summer at Jasper Park Bakery. This was what I did on my one and only day-off that summer. I registered my climb with the Parks Service and I walked all the way from my apartment on top of the bakery in Jasper to the top of the mountain and back down again. The only problems I ran into were bears (on the lower levels), and I also forgot that I might get thirsty! (*dumb teenager) I had to climb down the shaded side of the mountain to quench my thirst with some snow, since I failed to bring enough water with me.
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<br/>It was a spectacular summer day. Not a cloud in the sky and the scene at the peak, of the Rocky Mountains extending as far as the eye could see in all directions, was absolutely breathtaking.
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<br/>The climb is actually an easy one. I left early in the morning, and was at the summit shortly after noon. I followed an access road to the northeast face of the mountain just below the tree line. From that vantage point, it became obvious why it is called Mount Pyramid. The mountain forms a perfect symmetrical pyramid. The road ends at the base of a gondola lift (meant for maintenance crews to get to the radio tower at the top of the mountain.)
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<br/>I decided to climb along the right ridge of the pyramid to the summit. The ridge consisted of huge jagged boulders tacked on top of one another to form a pyramid, not that dissimilar to the pyramids in Egypt, but of course were of random sizes and angles. The ridge was narrow, and the steep slopes on either side of the ridge provided enough of an adrenalin rush to keep me moving with my eyes fixed on the summit.
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<br/>I was planning on walking the entire way back to Jasper as well, but as I was walking toward town from Pyramid Lake, someone offered me a ride and I couldn&#39;t resist. I had been walking and climbing for nearly 12 hours by that point and the pain in my legs was beginning to take its toll.
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<br/>The next day, I couldn&#39;t drive the delivery truck for the bakery because I couldn&#39;t lift my foot off the accelerator and onto the brake without assistance.